Selvage motion for looms



Nov. 20, 1934. w. B. GREAVES SELVAGE MOTION FOR LOOMS Filed Jan, 27,1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR 14 07 B Gfeares ATTORNEYS Nov. 20, 1934.w, GREAVES SELVAGE MOTION FOR LOOMS Filed Jan. 27, 1952' -4 Sheets-Sheet2 INVENTOR Grea es M m, v 62km! ATTOR EY5 Nov. 20, 1934.

W. B. GREAVES SELVAGE MOTION FOR LGOMS Filed Jan. 27, 1932 4Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR Mn. 5, Grea res BY 0) MI, W M'- ATTORNEYS NOV.20, 1934. w GREAVES I H 1 1,981,039

SELVAGE MOTION FOR LOOMS Filed Jan. 27, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 O o 29 65'8 59 F g 5. 1 ,5

o: O 1 L ATTORN EYS Patented Nov. 20, 1934 SELVAGE MOTION FOR LOOMSWilliam B. Greaves, Amsterdam, N. .Y., assiglioi to Mohawk Carpet Mills,Inc.,

Amsterdam,

N. L, a corporation of New York Application January 27, 1932, Serial No.589,-114

8 Claims.

This invention relates to the art of weaving the selvages of fabrics andis concerned more particularly with a fabric having a selvage woven in anovel manner as a result of which the selvage is tighter and narrowerthan selvages made by prior methods. The new type of selvage may beadvantageously incorporated in fabrics of various types but isparticularly applicable to pile fabrics, such as are commonly used forfloor coverings, since it not only improves such fabrics by preyentingthem from losing their shape but also improves their appearance becauseit can be concealed under the face yarn at the edge. The inventioncomprehends a novel method and appal5 ratus for weaving a fabric havinga selvage of the i new type and, for purposes of explanation, theapplication of the new selvage to pile fabrics will be set forth indetail, although it is to be understood that the utility of theinvention is by no means limited to fabrics having a pile.

In pile fabrics as now commonly woven, the selvage is formed along oneedge of the fabric by looping the weft yarn around a selvage chordbetween successive weft shots so the weft yarn extends around theselvage chord once for each shot of two weft threads. The shed whichdetermines the position of the warp yarns in the weaving operationchanges with each shot of the weft and returns to its original positiononly for every third shot, and when the Warp yarns are tightened arounda shot of weft, the level of the weft shot depends upon the amount ofwarp yarn above and below it and frequently successive shots of weft areat different levels. Since the weft thread is looped around the selvagechord once for each shot and then drawn tight, the result is that theselvage chord does not lie straight at the edge of the fabric but ispulled up and down and this produces a wide bulky selvage. If an attemptis made to correct this condition by pulling the selvage chord taut, theweft yarns are drawn out of the fabric to an undesirable extent and thisalso increases the width and bulk of the selvage. As a consequence, itis not possible, in a fabric in which the weft passes around the chordonce for every shot, to make the selvage narrow and tight by tensioneither on the selvage chord or the weft yarns.

I have found that these difficulties can be overcome by weaving the pilefabric so that the selvage chord is bound by a part only of the weftyarn loops and this can best be done by manipulating the selvage chordto cause certain of the shots to be inserted above the chord and the re-.-maining shots to be inserted below the chord.

There may actually be several levels of weft shots, but these levels mayall be' regarded either as upper or lower with respect to the line alongwhich selvage chord is tolie. With this method of Weaving, the weftyarns can be drawn tightly 0 without disturbing the selvage chord andthe selvage chord can be drawn taut without drawing out the weft yarnsto an undesirable extent. A selvage woven in the manner described may,therefore, be much tighter and narrower than 5 selvages as heretoforeformed, and, if the chord is bound near thelower edge of the fabric, itcan be drawn in close to the undersurface of the fabric and hidden by'the face yarn.

As an' example, a fabric in which there are three weft shots in a cycle,that is, one in which three weft shots are inserted before the shedmotions controlling the stuffer and pile warps are repeated, may bewoven with two weft shots of the groupof three lying'on one side of theselvage chord and the remaining shot, preferably the lower shot, on theother side of the chord. In those fabrics, in which there are more thanthree Weft shots to a cycle, the same principle of operation may beemployed to cause the selvage chord to be bound to the fabric by a partonly of the weft shots, preferably along the lower edge of the fabric,this method of weaving the fabric producing the desirable selvage abovedescribed.

In making the new selvage, the position of the selvage chord'cannotalways be controlled by ordinary heddles which change their positionsseveral times during each weft cycle, as for instance in weaving athree-shot fabric having the pattern visible on the back, and I haveaccordingly devised a novel guide and a mechanism for operating it, theguide lifting and lowering the selvage chord as maybe required toproduce the desired effect. The operating mechanism for this new guideneed not include extra gears, earns, or other driving devices, but maybe connected to be driven either by the pull-over mechanism or by themechanism which moves the tuft yarn carriers above the warp shed, thesemechanisms being regularly employed in the loom and opcrating once eachcycle at the proper instant.

For a better understanding of this invention, reference may be had tothe accompanying drawings in which:-

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan View of a section of fabric wovenaccording to this invention, the yarns being spaced apart to show theweave.

Figure 2 is a sectional view of the fabric shown in Figure ltaken on theline 22, Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a side view of the fabric shown in Figure 1 taken from theline 3-3, Fig. 1.

Figure 4 is a side view of the fabric shown in Figure 1 taken on theline 4--4, Fig. 1.

Figure 5 is a side view partly in section of a wide loom equipped forweaving a fabric with a new selvage, standard parts of the loom beingillustrated conventionally.

Figure 6 is a sectional view through the loom shown in Figure 5withparts omitted and showing the mechanism for controlling the selvagechord;

Figure '7 is a side view partly insection of a narrow fabricloom inwhich a different form of mechanism is used to control the'selvagechord;

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. '7 but showing the pull over mechanism;and v Fig. 9 is a plan view of the transfer mechanism of the loom.

As illustrated, the new selvage is embodied in a fabric of the Axminstertype in which there are three shots of weft to each row of pile tufts,all of these shots lying at different levels. While this fabric is usedfor purposes of illustration, it

is to be understood that the invention may be,

applied to other fabrics in which there may be more than three shots ofweft and these shots may lie in any number of levels.

I As shown in Figures 1 to 4, the fabric is formed with three sets ofwarp, two sets of which are stuffer warps 10 and 11 and extend throughthe fabric in substantially straight lines while the third set, thebinder warp 13, is woven up and down, over the upper weft shots andunder the lower weft shots. The first of the weft shots is insertedbelow the stuffer warps but above the binder warp, and the secondshot isinserted between the stuffer warps 10 and 11 and above the v binderwarp13, the pile tufts 14 being looped about this shot. The third shot isinserted above the stuffer warps but below the binder warp, and thecycle. is then repeated. As illustrated in Figures 1, 3 and4, theselvage chord 15 extends alongthe edge of the fabric between the levelsof the first 45 and second weft shots and is held in place by the weftyarn at 16, as it passes from the last shot of one cycle to the firstshot of the next cycle, and at 17 where it passes from the first shot ofthe cycle to the second shot of the cycle. At the point where the weftyarn passes from the second shot to the third shot, it isnot loopedaround the selvage chord. Accordingly, in this weave, there are twoshots of weft lying above the level of the selvage chord and one shotbelow and the 553" weft yarn passes around the selvage chord twice forthe three shots. The chord is held tightly in the fabric and liessubstantially straight.

By tightening the weft yarns and the selvage chord, the selvage chordmay be drawn in closely under the face yarn of the fabric, and a tight,narrow selvage may be produced. As the-selvage chord 15 lies in asubstantially straight line, the tighteningof the Weft yarn cannot causeit to be pulled up and down at the edge of the fabric but instead pullsit in tightly under the edge of the fabric and the face yarns 14, whenspread, cover it and hide it from view. Tension on the selvage 'chordonly makes the selvage tighter and narrower and has no tendency to drawout the weft yarns as the chord is'already straight and does not pullagainst the weft yarns.

The new selvage may be conveniently woven upon an ordinary widefabricjloomg20, as illustrated in'Fig. 5, by equipping the loom with apurpose of operating the transfer mechanism, the

usual wide fabric loom has a cam 23 mounted on the main cam shaft 24 ofthe loom, and a cam follower 25 pivotally mounted in the bracket 26 uponthe frame of the loom. The member 21 may be connected to be operated bythe follower 25 by suspending member 21 from one arm of the bell cranklever 26pivoted upon the frame of the loom and having its other armconnected by an adjustable link 2'7, to a lever 28 also pivoted on theframe. The lever 28 contacts at the end opposits that at which it ispivoted with one arm of a bell crank lever 29 mounted on a bracket 30 onthe frame and having its other arm connected by an adjustable link 31tothe cam follower 25. A spring 32 connected at one end to a lug orguide block 33 upon the frame and at the other end to a block 34 securedto link 2'7 tends to move the link 27 to lift the member 21 and hold thefollower 25 against the cam 23. The selvage chord is fed to the eye 22inthe member 21 through the usual guiding and tension devices.

The remainder of the transfer mechanism is illustrated in Fig. 9, inwhich it will be seen that the bell crank 29 passes throughan opening inand thereby actuates a pull rod 54 connected to one end of a lever 55.Actuating rods 56 and 57 are attached to the lever on opposite sides, ofits pivot and each rod is connected to one of the transfer arms 58. Eacharm is pivotally mounted on an arm 59 fast on a shaft supported foroscillation in suitable bearings. Each of the arms 58, 59 carries aclutch member 61.

In the operation of the loom, the shaft 60 rocked by appropriate meansto move the clutches into alignment with a tube frame on the trans-p inFigure '7, in which the selvage chord guiding member 41 is operated fromthe pull-over mechanism ordinarily present in such a loom. A pullovermechanism of the standard type is illustrated in Fig. 8 of the drawingsand it includes a cam 42 onthe main cam shaft 43 of the loom and a lever44 having a roller 45 running in the cam track. The lever 44 isconnected by an adjustable link 46 to one arm of a bell crank lever 4'7journalled in a bracket 48 on the loom frame.

The second arm of lever 47 which operates the pull-over mechanism isalso used to operate the guiding member for the selvage chord. For thispurpose, the second arm of the bell crank lever 4'7 is connected by alink 48 to a lever 49 pivoted upon the frame and having an arm 50 fromwhich'the member 41 is suspended. The link 48' slotted as at 51 and apin 52 on the arm of the bell crank lever enters the slot, the pin 52being held against one end of the slot by a spring 53. This arrangementprovides a resilient driving connection for the member 41.

The second arm of bell crank 47 carries a pin 62 to which actuating rods63 and 64 are connected. These rods are also connected, respectively, toarms 65 and 66 mounted loosely on shaft 6'? which carries sprocketwheels for the chains on which'the tube frames 68 are carried. Each armcarries a pawl 69 pivoted thereon and held either in operative orinoperative position by a spring '70. Each pawl cooperates, when inoperative position, with a ratchet wheel on shaft 6'7.

When the bell-crank 47 is actuated in one direction, it causes the arms65 to be rocked on shaft 6'? so that the pawl on one or the other of thearms engages with a tooth on its ratchet wheel. When the bell-crankmoves in the opposite direction, it causes the operative pawl to turnits ratchet wheel and shaft 67 an amount sufficient to advance a tubeframe into position to be picked up by the transfer mechanism. The twoarms 65 and 66 operate in opposite directions and are used alternativelyso that the shaft 67 may be rotated in either direction as may bedesired.

With either of the constructions described, an ordinary loom may withrelatively small changes be used to weave a selvage according to my newmethod and will produce a tight, even selvage which may be completelyhidden beneath the edge of the face yarn.

What I claim is:

1. In a loom for weaving pile fabrics, including tube frames forinserting tuft yarns into the fabric, the combination of a transfermechanism for removing the tube frames from their chains and loweringthem to the fabric, and a mechanism for producing a selvage edgecomprising means for supplying a selvage chord along the edge of thewarp threads, and means for raising and lowering the chord independentof the means which control the warp shed, said raising and loweringmeans being actuated from the transfer mechanism.

2. In a loom for weaving fabrics, including tube frames mounted intransporting chains, the combination of a pull-over mechanism drivenfrom the main cam shaft of the loom, and a mechanism for producing aselvage edge comprising means for supplying a selvage chord along theedge of the shed, means for raising and lowering the chord independentof the means which control the warp shed, and means actuated from a partof the pull-over mechanism for actuating said raising and loweringmeans.

3. In a loom for weaving pile fabrics, the combination with pile yarnsupply mechanism including tube frames, transporting means therefor,transfer means for moving said tube frames between the chains andWeaving point, and means actuated by the main cam shaft of the loom fordriving said mechanism, of a mechanism for producing a selvage edgecomprising means for supplying a selvage chord along the edge of theshed, means for raising and lowering the chord independent of the meanswhich control the warp shed, and means driven by 1e actuating means fora part of the pile yarn supply mechanism for actuating said raising andlowering means.

4. In a loom for weaving pile fabrics, the combination with tuft yarncarriers, pull-over mechanism for advancing said carriers successivelyinto operating position, and means driven from the main cam shaft of theloom for driving the pullover mechanism, of means for producing aselvage edge comprising means for supplying a selvage chord along theedge of the shed, a guide member through which the chord passes, andmeans driven by the driving means for the pullover mechanism of the loomand moving said guide, said means raising and lowering said guide memberonce for each cycle of loom operations.

5. In a pile fabric loom, the combination with pile yarn supply meansincluding tube frames, transporting chains therefor, pull-over mechanismfor advancing said chains, transfer mechanism for moving said framesbetween the chains and the weaving point, and driving means for saidpile yarn supply means, of a mechanism for producing a selvage edgecomprising means for supplying a selvage chord along the edge of theshed, a guide member through which the chord passes, and means driven bythe driving means for said pile yarn supply means of the loom and movingsaid guide means to raise and lower said guide member once for eachinsertion of pile yarn.

6. In a tuft pile fabric loom, the combination with pile yarn supplyingmeans and means driven from the main cam shaft of the loom for actuatingsaid supplying means, of a mechanism for producing a selvage edgecomprising means for supplying a selvage chord along the edge of theshed, a guide member comprising a bar having an eye through which thechord passes, and means driven by said actuating means and moving saidguide means to raise and lower said guide member once for each insertionof pile yarn.

7. In a loom for weaving pile fabrics, including carriers for tuft yarnand means for advancing the carriers successively into supplyingposition, the combination of a mechanism for producing a selvage edgecomprising means for supplying a selvage chord along the edge of thewarp threads, a guide member having an eye through which the chordpasses, means for manipulating the warp threads to produce successivesheds, and means independent of the shed producing mechanism andactuated by said advancing means for raising and lowering said guidemember.

8. A method of weaving a selvage upon a fabric which contains stuiferwarp threads in at least two levels and weft shots in at least threelevels, which comprises supplying a selvage chord different from thewarp threads and lying at 130 one side of the warp threads, formingsheds of the warp threads and inserting a continuous Weft thread toconstitute shots lying in different levels, and manipulating the selvagechord during the formation of the sheds to cause it to be 135 straightand undistorted in the finished fabric by lowering it below all shotswhich are to be in a level above that of the chord in the finishedfabric and raising it above the shots which are to be in alevel belowthat of the chord in the 0 finished fabric, the inserting of thecontinuous weft in the successive sheds formed by the warp threads andthe chord causing the weft to loop around the chord only in passing froma shot at one side of the level of the chord to a shot at the 145 otherside of the level of the chord.

WILLIAM B. GREAVES.

